Latch.



E.E.BOYUM.

, LATCH.

APPLICATION FILED AUG-l8, 1916- 1,227,034. Patented May 22, 1917.

A TTORIVEYS UNITED sT Tns PATENTOFFICE.

- :nmcnnwimn 130YUM,:OFHAMAKUA.POKO, TERRITORY or HAWAII.

LATCH.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

li'eit' known that 1, ERIC E. BOYUM, a citizen of the United States, anda resident of Hamalruapok'o, on thelsland of Maui, in the Territory ofHawaii, have invented, certain new and useful Improvements in Latches,of which the followingisa specification. V 9

My invention relates to latches adapted for use in many different placesbut having a particular application on railway cars provided with dropsides or ends, suchas are used on sugar plantations, and among theobjects thereof is to provide a latch employed in connection with achain and which will take the load from'the woodwork of a car, whichwill carry the load on the brace 1 bar and not on the latch, which willbe held to position by means of gravity, which will not require snaps ortying Wlth twine to keep the same in place, which will never turn theload loose until manually operated to accomplish this result, which willbe easy to refasten, which is simple in construction, installation, anduse, and which is comparatively inexpensive.

My invention is lowing specification, of which the accompanying drawingsform a part, in which like characters refer to like parts in each of theviews, and in which Figure 1 is a fragmentary view or a car providedwith a drop door held in closed position by means of my invention; 7Fig. 2 is an enlarged section taken on the line 2--2 of Fig.1; f V

Fig. 3 is an enlarged viewof the latch at one stage of thedoor releasingposition;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary edge View of the latch viewed from the righthand of Fig.1; 7

Fig. 5*is a s1 ilar view taken from'the left hand of Fig. 1; and I Fig.6 is a top edge View thereof.

Referring to the drawings, 7 represents a portion of the body of a carprovided with a drop door 8held in closed position by means of achain 9the free end of which has an eye 10 slipped over a stud 11 fixed in thebrace bar 12 of the car, said chain beingv held on the stud by means ofa latch 13 rotatable on a pivot 1 1 adjacent the stud 11 and in thebrace bar. 7

The latch 13 comprisesa substantially circular head 15 having asegmental lip 16 at the. front and to one side and terminated at 17 inapproximately the longitudinal axial Specification of Letters Patent.

any described in the 01- I 2 tion all thatis necessary is Patentedlllay22; 19117..

Application filed August 18, 1916. SerialNo. 1 ,115,601.

lane of the latch, opposite a handle 18,

and it will be notedthat this lip 16 is of the same thickness throughoutits length.

- To the rear of the head 15 andon the side opposite is a flange 19having a helical or inclined surface 20 on its outer side, said flangebeing spaced from the lip 16 and terminated at 21 adjacent the centrallongitudinal plane or the latch.

" The pivot 14; is spaced from the stud 11 in suchv manner as to havethe lip 16 overlie the member of the chain having the eye 10 whenthedoor is in closed'position, as shown in F g. 1, whereby said chain isprevented from slipping off. the stud when the latch is in normalposition with ,the handle 1( downward but, when the latch is turnedupwardly and to the left until the termination 17 of the lip 16 passesthe chain 9 the latter is free to slip off said stud. This is insured bymeans of the thin end 21 ofthe flange 19 passing beneath the eyeletmember of the chain and, upon continued rotation of the latch on itspivot, the helical surface 20 forcesthe said chain member outwardly andoffthe stud 11, thereby releasing the door and permitting the load onthe car to es cape.v

In again latching the door in closed posito raise the latch intoltheposition shown in Fig. 3, slip the eyelet member of the chain over thestud 11, and release-the latch to permit the handle to move downwardlyby gravity to again of the lip 16.

that occupied by the lip 16 imprison the chain on the stud by means Inthe particular application shown the handle'18 may be tapered; at itsouter end to avoid interference withthe brake lever 22 of the car, butthis is arbitrary as will be understood.

My invention primarily consists in the rotatable head having the lip 16for imprisoningthe chain on the stud and having the helically surfacedflange 19 for forcing the chain from the stud and, while I depend ongravity in the illustrated form of latch to 1maintain the same in doorlocking position,

I may provide mechanical means for ,accomplishing this result regardlessof the relative position of the handle. i

My invention is applicable to the hinged tail boards of wagons, and inmany other places where chains or the equivalent are employed to hold adoor or the like in closed position, and I may modify the shape of thelatch to meet conditions.

Having fully described my invention, What I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is:

1. The combination with a chain and a stud for holding a door in closedposition; of a latch comprising a rotatable head, means thereon fornormally imprisoning said chain on said stud, and means for forcing saidchain from said stud in the rotation of said head.

2. The combination With a chain and a stud for holding a door in closedposition; of a latch comprising a rotatable head, a lip on the front andto one side thereof normally overlying the stud end of said chain toimprison the same on said stud, and a helically surfaced flange adaptedto pass behind and force said chain from said stud in the rotation ofsaid head, said lip being moved from chain imprisoning position.

3. As an article of manufacture, for use With a chain and stud forholding a door in closed position, a latch comprising a head having asegmental lip at the front and to one side thereof, and having ahelically surfaced flange at the rear and to the. opposite side thereof.

4. As an article of manufacture, for use with a chain and stud forholding a door in closed position, a latch comprising a head having abore for a pivot, having a segmental lip provided With a peripheryconcentric with said bore at the front and to one side thereof, having aflange at the rear and to the other side thereof provided With aninclined surface facing said lip and also concentric With said bore, andhaving a handle for rotating the same.

ERIC EDWARD BOYUM.

Witnesses:

JOHN HALL, E. W. AIN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner 01' Patents, Washington, D. O.

